HC orders compensation for 1988 air crash victims

Ahmedabad, Oct 14: The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday, Oct 14 ordered a compensation of Rs 6 crore for the families of 34 victims, who lost their lives in 1988 Indian Airlines air crash.

A bench comprising Justices M S Shah and H N Devani passed the order and directed IA and Airport Authority of India (AAI) to pay the compensation to the petitioners by Dec 31, 2009.

The compensation amount would be paid along with an interest of nine per cent per annum calculated from 1989 when the petitioners had approached the lower court.

Earlier, the family members of 34 victims had approached the lower court demanding compensation higher than that given by the airline claiming that the accident was caused due to negligence of IA and AAI.

The IA Boeing 737 plane had crashed a few kilometres away from the Ahmedabad airport on Oct 19, 1988 killing 131 people on board including the crew members.